50 World Facts to Boost Your General Knowledge
1. The 41-story Umeda Hankyu Building in Osaka, Japan has five of the world’s largest elevators each of which can accommodate 80 passengers.
2. Explorer I was the first U.S. satellite launched in 1958 and weighing just 31 lbs.
3. The nation of Monaco has just 3 ½ miles of coastline, the least of any non-landlocked country.
4. Solid hydrogenated vegetable shortening Crisco was first introduced in 1911.
5. Thomas Hart Benton was a 19th-century United States senator from the state of Missouri who strongly advocated for westward expansion and was the first senator to serve five terms.
6. In 1954 Ronald Reagan began hosting a TV show for General Electric and making speeches to its workers.
7. The iconic Wonder Wheel Ferris wheel at Coney Island, NY was built in 1920.
8. The longest jellyfish ever recorded measured 160 ft.
9. The Endless Summer is a 1966 documentary about two surfers who travel the world looking for the perfect wave.
10. “Vulgar” originally referred to the everyday form of Latin spoken by ancient Romans.
11. The famous triangular skyscraper located in New York City at 175 Fifth Avenue is known as the Flatiron Building.
12. The catchy “Gimme a Break” Kit Kat jingle was created in 1986 by the DDB advertising agency.
13. Meteorologists began assigning female names to hurricanes in 1953.
14. A Siamese fighting fish is so aggressive it will even attack its own reflection in the mirror.
15. The “El Nino” weather phenomenon in the Pacific causes unusual weather fluctuations every three to seven years.
16. Ruben Studdard edged out Clay Aiken to win the second season of American Idol.
17. During the eight-day Jewish observance of Passover, the eating of hametz, leavened bread, is prohibited.
18. The record for snowfall in a single snowstorm was 189 inches in 1959 on Mount Shasta in California.
19. Neoprene is a type of synthetic rubber first developed at DuPont in 1930.
20. Uruguayans call their highlands Cuchilla Grande, or “big knife” for the sharp, narrow rock formations.
21. The striped bass is the state fish of Rhode Island.
22. Blanche of Castile ruled France as regent when her son Louis IX went to the Crusades in 1248.
23. The Bulldogs of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington are popularly known as the “Zags.”
24. Dr. Kubler-Ross’ list of the five states of grief goes from denial to acceptance.
25. James Smith, who became the WBA heavyweight champion in the mid- 1980s, was known by the nickname “Bonecrusher,” and was the first heavyweight champion with a college degree.
26. A docket is a list of cases in court for trial or the names of the parties who have cases pending.
27. In ancient Greek legend Clytemnestra was the wife of Greek king Agamemnon who may or may not has murdered him depending on whether the author was Homer or Aeschylus.
28. A bias is a line of thread diagonal to the grain of the fabric.
29. Early recordings of Motown singers were made in a converted warehouse on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit.
30. Pat Benetar’s “You Better Run” was the second video ever aired on MTV.
31. The famed Pony Express only lasted for 19 months before the telegraph made it impractical.
32. Dennis Wilson was the only member of the Beach Boys who actually knew how to surf.
33. At their closest point, Canada and Greenland are only sixteen miles apart.
34. The Army of the Potomac was the first Union Army organized for the American Civil War and would remain the primary Union Army in the east.
35. The Purple Heart medal bears a profile of George Washington on its obverse side.
36. Popular 1980’s Bud Light spokesdog Spuds MacKenzie was actually a female named Honey Tree Evil Eye.
37. Pico de Orizaba is the highest volcanic mountain in North America and the third-highest North American peak overall.
38. About one out of every two million lobsters is born blue.
39. The CBS game shows The $64,000 Question first hit the air in 1955 and gave away $1,000,000 in its first 17 months.
40. Woodrow Wilson was the first U.S. President to earn a Ph.D.
41. Former Laker Jerry West is the basketball player that appears on the NBA logo.
42. It is actually the larva of moths that eat clothing.
43. The Spirit of Ecstasy is the name of the Rolls Royce hood ornament.
44. The Rocky Mountain Columbine is the state flower of Colorado
45. Since 1930 there have been fewer than 10 left-handed catchers in Major League Baseball.
46. The Cozy Dog Drive-In in Springfield, IL was the birthplace of the corndog.
47. From 1958 to 1961 television westerns Gunsmoke and Wagon Train were the number one and two rated shows in the U.S.
48. Germany, France, the UK, and Italy all have 29 votes in the EU, the current maximum number possible.
49. J.S. Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” was originally designed to help an insomniac nobleman sleep.
50. In Monopoly the rent on utilities is 4 times the amount rolled if one is owned or 10 times if both are owned.
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